Andy Morgan Wins MLF PBT Lake Chickamauga

Andy Morgan had seen this movie before. Lake Chickamauga in the spring. Bass beginning their progression from pre-spawn mode into spawn mode. Water coming up and dropping in response to spring rains. Heavy fishing pressure all across the lake. It was all so familiar. "Very familiar," he said. He adjusted well, though, and bounced back from a below-his-standards Shotgun Round to come away with the victory with an 80-pound performance in last Sunday's Championship Round, ending a 12-year stretch since his last top-tier win. "This place is hard to win on," he said, noting many in the field had competed at Chickamauga previously. "That erases most of the local advantage until that set of circumstances popped up with the weather and wind."

He had a trio of programs going for various conditions: a lipless crankbait in the morning when the fish were in their feeding mode; a vibrating jig for fishing the areas in between the spots that he really concentrated on, which were blowdowns and stickups along shore in backwaters and pockets from Sale Creek to Cottonport, upriver from takeoff in Dayton. To pick apart the wood, he flipped a Zoom Z-Craw. Morgan had competed in three FLW Tour events at Chickamauga and his 5th-place finish in the 2013 tournament dominated by umbrella rigs was his best showing. This time, he said the main obstacle he faced throughout the event was trying to stay in areas that weren't being heavily pressured by other anglers, either BPT pros or locals. "Just trying to maintain and keep out of fishing right behind somebody, that was the biggest hurdle of the week," he said. "The fish were moving around pretty good and were pretty active pulling into areas and you didn't want to fish in a mud trail behind somebody."

Practice:

Like many pro anglers preparing to compete on their home fishery, Morgan employed a see-but-don't-be-seen approach during the 1 1/2 days before competition got going. "I dodged a lot of places because any place you pull up on, if someone knows you have knowledge there, you're going to bring fire to it." Having to avoid so many well-known haunts made for a challenging practice as he tried to avoid being spotted by other competitors. "That boogered me a little bit on where I started," he said. "I could've been more aggressive in practice and figured out that school wasn't as good as I thought. I was ducking and dodging. If I'd hear a boat, I'd crank up and leave." Above all, based on the conditions, he knew the tournament would be decided in shallow water. He figures the offshore pre-spawn bite that has made Chickamauga famous in recent years started to peter out in the 10 days to two weeks before the tournament. "I hate to have preconceived notions, but I knew that would be the deal," he said.

Competition:

Morgan and the rest of Group B got on the water last Wednesday and he opted to chase a school of fish down the lake. It wound up being one of the few mistakes he made in the tournament. He caught six fish in the first 11 minutes to take the early lead, but after catching a 1-02 at 9 a.m., he didn't catch another fish until 12:30 p.m. He caught six for 13-14 in the third period to salvage the day and wind up in 21st place. "I screwed it all up on day 1," Morgan said. "I found that school down the lake. It was a pretty nice school, but they were small fish and they quit. I turned around and ran back and was like, ÔUh oh.' Everything was covered up. The morning flurry was over. It was clear, cold with no wind and I struggled to get anything going. I finally hit some areas and kept myself in contention." His tournament turned around in the Elimination Round when he caught 56-13 to climb all the way up to 5th with 88-05 and qualify for the Knockout Round. Rather than fiddle around with schoolers down the lake, he went to the areas he passed over early in the Shotgun Round. "I just flip-flopped my timing and did the opposite of the first day," he said. "I was wanting to get as many bites as I could and get them all in the boat until I was comfortable, then I went practicing. I caught them good enough early enough so I could practice a little."

That turned out to be critical because he was able to find an area that he leaned on the next day in the Knockout Round. "I shook off five or six fish in that area and went back there in the third period of the Knockout Round," he added. He said the fish changed daily how they would set up near the laydowns and other woody cover, meaning he had to be pretty methodical with how he fished through stretches. "Toward the final round, they were out on the ends of it," he said. After catching 56-03 in the Knockout Round, it was on to his first BPT Championship Round. Some harsh weather thinned the crowd of local anglers on the lake last Sunday and gave Morgan free reign over an area up river he calls Bus Slough. It turned out to the perfect scenario. "That place I was in cannot take pressure," he said. "If two boats get in there, it's done. With the conditions we were dealt (Sunday) and the water level and with my experience and history there, I couldn't call my shots but it was pretty close."

He caught his first six on a lipless crankbait, including a 3-06. A weather delay in the first period didn't slow him, either as he rolled up 30-12 by 10:30 a.m. and led by 12-plus pounds at that point. "I was fixing to wreck them in that storm," he said. "I was getting a bite every other cast when the storm hit." For the rest of the day, he was able to let key stretches rest and then come back to them later without much worry that someone else had fished them. "It was all about going into areas where you knew fish were and pick it over, and catch every fish in there," he said. It also helped that he had spent years upon years fishing in Bus Slough during the spring. "I know every twig and every stump and there's an old tree that's still in there. I can still remember catching a 6-05 out of it the first tournament I won. It's still there," he said. "It's hard to get in and you have to know where you're going and what you're doing, but knowing all the structure under the water and knowing the bottom hardness, that's a big deal. A lot of it is not visible."

Winning Gear:

Lipless crankbait gear: 7' medium-action prototype Favorite Fishing casting rod, Team Lew's Custom Pro Speed Spool SLP Series casting reel (6.8:1 ratio), 14-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line, 1/4- and 1/2-oz. Strike King Redeye Shad (chartreuse sexy shad, baby carp).

Vibrating jig gear: 7'4" medium-heavy Favorite Fishing Big Sexy casting rod, Team Lew's Pro-Ti SLP Speed Spool casting reel, same line (16-pound), 1/2-oz. Strike King Thunder Cricket (green-pumpkin, chartreuse/white), Zoom Swimmin Super Fluke swimbait trailer (matching colors).

Flipping gear: 7'6" medium-heavy prototype Favorite Fishing casting rod, Team Lew's HyperMag Speed Spool SLP Series casting reel (8.3:1 ratio), same line (20-pound), 1/4-oz. Strike King Tour Grade Tungsten worm weight, 5/0 Owner 4x Jungle Flippin' Hook, Zoom Z Craw (black/red, black/blue, sapphire blue, summer craw).

MLB-BPT Tour Lake Chickamauga Winning Pattern BassFan 4/17/19 (Todd Ceisner)

This was Jared Lintner's second visit to Chickamauga and in practice he found a backwater with some clear water and hydrilla in it. "It was loaded (with bass)," he said. "If I don't find that spot, I maybe make the first cut." He also noticed a lot of other anglers fishing similar scenarios - "secondary pockets off the main river and fishing any sitck or log on the bank," he said. "I had to find something different." He shifted his focused to transition areas, "where they'd set up prior to going into the pockets," he said. "I noticed a bunch spawning on transition banks. My boat was in 20 feet and it's a chunk rock bank, but there's a 3-pounder sitting on a rock in a foot of water. If a piece of wood was there, they'd spawn on that, too."

He felt like the fish in those areas were safer bets with the fluctuating water levels. "I caught a lot of key fish off those kinds of banks," he said. "I caught them where they should be staging. I didn't sight-fish them, but they were spawners." He started the Group B Shotgun Round in the backwater he found in practice and caught several before moving on to other areas. "Each day, I fished two or three hours in there and then come the Knockout Round I go in there and it's me, Fred Roumbanis, Terry Scroggins and four locals," he said. "I spent two hours in there, caught nine pounds and left."

It turned out to be a blessing as he came across the big fish of the tournament at his next spot. Catching the 8-10 solidified his spot in the finals. "I was fishing down a stretch and I'd caught a couple and I'd fished there the day before, but didn't see anything," he said. "I look down and see a giant swim off a rock. It's a little mud flat, maybe 20 feet long and there's one white rock on it the size of a volleyball. I hadn't seen it before.

"I spin around and I'm looking for her. I start flipping and pitching craws at her and she's milling around. She's not on a bed or excited. I fish down the bank and eased back through there. I was still a pretty good ways out so I bomb a Ned rig out there. She's facing the bank and away from me and that rock is three feet in front of her. My bait landed 10 feet in front of her. I shake the bait a little and I see her body tense up. I popped my rod and the bait jumped and I see her gills flare from the back. She sucked it in from 2 or 3 feet away. I slowly reeled back and said, ÔOh my God, I got her.' I've caught a lot of sight-fish, but to see it go down and see her gills like that was incredible." His primary tactic was powershotting, a souped-up dropshot fished on casting tackle. A Ned rig was also productive, especially on the final day in areas protected from the wind.

Gear:

Powershot gear: 7'5" medium-heavy Ritual Angling casting rod, Shimano Metanium HG casting reel, 14-pound Sunline Shooter fluorocarbon line, 3/0 Lazer TroKar straight-shank worm hook, 6" Fat Roboworm (Aaron's Magic), 1/4-oz. EcoPro Tungsten Full Contact dropshot weight.

Neko rig gear: 7'1" medium-action Ritual Angling spinning rod, Shimano Exsence 3000 spinning reel, 12-pound Sunline SX1 braided line, 8-pound Sunline Shooter fluorocarbon line (leader), 2/0 Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp finesse hook, 3/64-oz. unnamed nail weight, Zoom Trick Worm (green-pumpkin), 5.8" Jackall Neko Flick worm (green-pumpkin pepper).

Ned rig gear: Same rod as Neko rig, same reel as Neko rig, same lines as Neko rig, 1/10-oz. Laser TroKar Pro V Ned Jig, Roboworm Ned Worm (Aaron's Magic).

MLF-BPT Tour Lake Chickamauga 2-5 Patterns BassFan 4/19/19 (Todd Ceisner)

Todd Faircloth admits he's still trying to figure out the most efficient way to practice for a Bass Pro Tour event, but he seems to have the tournament part figured out as it was a mid-tournament audible that earned him his highest finish yet this season. "Practice wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible," he said. "I feel like I'm still trying to figure out how to practice for these. We basically get 1 1/2 days and it's a lot harder to judge what you're on. I find myself going into an area and if I get two or three bites, I used to fish the whole area. Now, you can't do that. You have to cover as much water as you can and look at as much as you can because you don't know what will change.

"I'll run around and take notes and drop waypoints, then come back in the tournament and fish it. It's just hard to get a judge on practice because it's just little snacks instead of big bites, but it turned out better than I anticipated." Over the first 1 1/2 days, he was down lake where he caught fish flipping a creature bait and on a wacky-rigged worm. Halfway through day 2, though, he headed up river to fish some stretches with dirtier water. "That totally changed the outcome for me," he said. "I avoided missing the cut to making a top 10. If I don't make that call, I don't get paid this week. The fish were not near as spooky and there was a lot less (fishing) pressure versus down the lake. There were fewer locals, too. I basically had it to myself.

"That was huge because you don't want to go behind these vacuum cleaners." Up river, he targeted any piece of wood that was in the water, be it a blowdown or an overhanging tree limb that plunged into the water. A Texas-rigged creature bait was his preferred flipping option. "Some pockets definitely had more blowdowns than others," he said. "The biggest key for me was I caught most of my fish in creeks and pockets closer to the mouth up the river. A lot of stuff up there is flatter and with them fluctuating the water (level), they were more stable."

Gear:

Pitching gear: 7'4" heavy-action Denali jig/worm casting rod, unnamed casting reel (7.1:1 ratio), 22-pound Sunline Shooter fluorocarbon line, 3/8-oz. Strike King Tour Level Tungsten worm weight, 3/0 Gamakatsu Heavy Cover worm hook, Strike King Rage Structure Bug (green-pumpkin).

MLF-BPT Tour Lake Chickamauga 2-5 Patterns BassFan 4/19/19 (Todd Ceisner)

When Jacob Powroznik arrived at Chickamauga last week, he pretty much knew how he was going to attack the lake. Heck, easing away from the ramp on the first day of practice, he spotted three bass on beds. "The first pocket I went into, I got 10 bites," he said. "It was the same all week from the time I started until I finished. I fished shallow, throwing to dark spots, stumps, a patch of grass or even a bed." That formula netted him a total of 100 bass over four days of competition, including a stout 36 for 67-14 in the Knockout Round alone.

"I basically fished the same areas that I fish every time I've been here whether it's been won shallow or deep," he added. "Water clarity was a big key. I had to be able to see something that sat out by itself. That's where they were." He tried to fish new water (to him) each day, but fished the same way all over the lake as he relied on a wacky-rigged V&M Baits Trickster worm. "It's just a good way to generate bites this time of year," he said. While the weather on the final day was an obstacle he ultimately couldn't overcome, he had no regrets about how he managed the event. "I would do nothing different if given the chance," he said.

Gear:

Worm gear: 7' medium-heavy Quantum spinning rod, Quantum Smoke S3 size 30 spinning reel, 20-pound Hi-Seas braid (main line), 15-pound Hi-Seas fluorocarbon (6' leader), size 1 Mustad TitanX Wacky/Neko Rig Hook, 6" V&M Trickster (green-pumpkin violet).

Topwater gear: 6'10" medium-heavy Quantum KVD Tour Edition casting rod, Quantum Smoke S3 casting reel (7.3:1 ratio), 20-pound HI-SEAS monofilament line, Livingston Lures Walk N Pop 67 (shad).

MLF-BPT Tour Lake Chickamauga 2-5 Patterns BassFan 4/19/19 (Todd Ceisner)

Mike Iaconelli had competed at Chickamauga just once before - the 2014 BASSFest in which he finished 42nd - but it was knowledge he gained during that visit that helped him plot a successful course last week. "I remember committed to the lower end in that tournament because it was more of a post-spawn, summer bite," he said. "I knew the bigger fish lived down there, so I took some of that and reversed it. I knew the fishing pressure would be more intense down there." He decided the closest he would get to the lower end of the lake would be mid lake, simply to avoid crowded areas and having to fish behind other competitors and locals.

"I wrote a lot of that off and basically started with the mindset to look at new areas," he said. That led him to the Hiawassee River, which flows into Chickamauga from the east. The water was dirtier and warmer in the Hiawassee and that's what kept Iaconelli coming back. "It was legitimately the dirtiest water on the whole lake and that allowed me to power-fish," he said. "I didn't have to pull out a spinning rod like a lot of guys and it let those fish stay shallow and made it easier." While those down the lake were focused on pre-spawn bass and some already in bedding mode, Iaconelli is convinced the majority of fish he caught were post-spawn.

"It still blows me away, but they had of the typical post-spawn signs - bloody tails, sores on their gill plates, skinny," he said. Iaconelli said 80 percent of his fish were caught winding a crankbait along natural rock and riprap where a channel or ditch would swing and hit the shore near the rock. He said the Lowrance C-Map feature, which allows users to shade different depth zones, let me pinpoint areas that had the ingredients he was looking for. "That allowed me to look at a spawning bay or creek and where those ditches or creeks would touch the bank," he said. "When I found that combination around rock or riprap, that was pretty consistent. I didn't catch as many big ones as others, but it just came together for me. "All of my bites were in the zero to 3-foot range. I'd throw it to the face of the rock and grind it back. I'd make repetitive casts and deflections were key. When it would careen off those rocks, that's when I'd get bit."

Gear:

Crankbait gear: 6'6" medium-action Abu Garcia Ike Signature Delay Series casting rod, Abu Garcia Revo Ike casting reel (6.6:1 ratio), 14-pound Berkley Trilene Sensation monofilament line, unnamed square-bill crankbait (shad color), Rapala Brat 06 (pearl gray shiner).

He also caught several fish on a 1/2-oz. Molix Waterslash spinnerbait (shad) fished around docks where there was a shad spawn happening.

He caught a few pitching to laydowns with a 4" Berkley PowerBait Pit Boss (Okeechobee craw) rigged on a 4/0 VMC Heavy Duty flipping hook under a 5/16-oz. VMC tungsten worm weight.

MLF-BPT Tour Lake Chickamauga 2-5 Patterns BassFan 4/19/19 (Todd Ceisner)